Norwegian Epic - Transatlantic - Day 1

DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY - 12/7 - LISBON, PORTUGAL

I walked from the Lisbon apartment to the ship and arrived around 11 am. It was drizzling. I only brought carry on luggage, but even on wheels it seemed heavy to drag (luckily) down the hill on (sometimes) cobblestone streets for the 15 minute trek.

There was already a line to check in, but it kept moving and within 45 minutes I'd already checked into my muster station, booked my shows for the week (Burn the Floor and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) and was eating a salad in the Garden Cafe (the buffet). Remember, eating green things was on my list of daily goals, so it was nice to get that checked off right away! Plus I was hungry, as I hadn't eaten breakfast prior to boarding.

I went on a spa tour, as I was considering getting a pass for the week (which I did not). After seeing the area, they were trying to get me to sit down for some sort of "free" consultation, when the announcement came on that the cabins were ready. I used that as my excuse to escape their pitch on how they could make me look younger and thinner in exchange for all my money.

I went to my cabin - 12170. It was spacious, yet cozy, with a nice sized balcony and a huge amount of storage space. There were three separate areas for the shower, toilet and sink, all of which could be separated from the main room by a curtain. It could be an awkward setup depending on who one shares the cabin with, but I was alone, so it didn't bother me at all.

Upon check-in, no one had mentioned the fact that we were skipping the stop in the Azores, but there was a paper we were given that showed the new schedule. We were to leave at 2am instead of 4pm and head towards Bermuda.

I unpacked and went to Taste, one of the main dining rooms, where I got my favorite dessert. I'd had it on my last cruise too - an orange chocolate mousse with some sort of crunchy chocolate bits and orange jelly bits at the bottom.

Back in my cabin, I looked at the schedule for the day and planned out my evening.

First, I decided to go on a tour of the ship, which said it would include public areas. My hope was that I'd discover some areas I didn't know about that would help me escape from everything, if needed. It wasn't very enlightening and some of the things we were told (like that you need reservations for the Taste) were incorrect.

BUT! In my attempt to NOT interact with a man on the tour with a weird energy, I started talking to a woman, Terri, from Ottawa. She immediately introduced me to Adam from Toronto area. They'd just met as well and were both traveling solo, like me. Little did I know that I'd be spending most of my social time with them throughout the week!

We arranged to see each other later at the solo meetup. Every day, at 6:30 pm there is a meetup for solo travelers. You can get to know new people and there is an opportunity to get groups together for dinner or entertainment in the evening.

In-between, I went to the buffet and got cookies, which are put out every day around 3pm, and then thought it was a good time to check off another thing on my list - go to the gym. It was nearly empty and I enjoyed being able to look out over the water while working out.

After a shower and some down time, I headed to the solo lounge.

I found my new acquaintances and met some others. Terri was excellent at meeting people, remembering their names, and introducing them all to each other!

The three of us ended up at dinner at Taste with Andy, Silvia and Marcy. I won't get too into details about the people I met, but I figure if I found these things out on the first night, they're fine to mention here... Terri works as a political advisor in Canada and had been traveling for a bit before getting on the ship. Adam once spent several weeks in Western US on the search for the best pie. (When asked for a highlight, he mentioned a bourbon apple pie in Austin). Andy is currently married to a Chilean woman, who he met on another cruise while married to his first wife. Marcy is from California and was on one of MANY cruises in a row. She had ignored all news for four months, but now wanted ME to catch her up. I (hopefully politely) refused. It was my turn to get away! Silvia is from Stuttgart, Germany. She is Andy's "cruise wife" - they've been on several of the same ones at the same time (not together together). I learned more about her later, but at this dinner the main thing I learned is that she listens more than she talks.

All my plans for the evening went out the window. But that was ok. My general cruise thought was to have a plan, be flexible in my plan, and take time to myself when I wanted/needed it.

Terri asked if I wanted to go dancing at Bliss, the "club". That's really not my thing in "real life" and I didn't commit. She said she was going to her cabin first and then would be there. I went to my cabin to freshen up and then decided to go check it out. When I got there, Terri hadn't yet arrived and after a few minutes I decided to skip it after all.

I went to my cabin, painted a little and wrote a little. I took some seasickness medicine, just in case. I had a green apple available, just in case. I fell asleep watching rain and lighting through my balcony door.

As I was looking through photos from the first day, I saw I'd taken a screen grab of my horoscope for the week, which I'd forgotten about. I think it is pretty good.